Public Relations History Research Articles

Understanding Ivy Lee's declaration of principles: U.S. newspaper and magazine coverage of publicity and press agentry, 1865–1904

Ivy Lee's 1905 “Declaration of Principles” has been called the “starting point of modern public relations,” but what did it mean in the context of his time? Analysis of press discussion finds that, while press agentry was connected to the circus and theater, “corporate publicity” was linked to Theodore Roosevelt's call for the release of financial information in the public interest. The paper confirms that scholars do not have a clear understanding of public relations history and identifies areas for further research.

The Social, Political, and Economic Context in the Development of Organizational Communication in Brazil

As a professional practice and an academic subfield, organizational communication is a relatively recent addition in Brazil, dating primarily from the 1980s. In both arenas, organizational communication developed from the theory and practice of public relations. Much of its design, however, grows out of the particularities and consequences of the Brazilian social, political, and economic context. This article presents a brief profile of the history of public relations and organizational communication in this country.

Reconstruction of public relations history through publications in Public Opinion Quarterly

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce a historical development of public relations from its early days until 1970. The study aims to show that in the early stages of development public relations was closely linked with public opinion research.Design/methodology/approachA historical content analysis is used to establish a “story of identity” through a review of selected articles from Public Opinion Quarterly from 1937 to 1970.FindingsA clear finding is that public relations was once an integral part of public opinion science but later changed its focus to the management field, interested in reaching different publics. From the very beginning public relations was a subject of academic interest.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has a few limitations; one that stands out is that selected articles were analysed from only one journal, which does not offer the recent material (after 1970 and especially from the 1990s). At the end, the paper raises some questions, which should aid the discussion about the identity crisis of public relations discipline (and managerial function) in the postmodern era.Originality/valueThe paper attempts to cover the gap in an interactive relationship between two disciplines: communication studies and public relations. It contributes to the knowledge of historical development of public relations as an academic discipline.

The State of Public Relations History

The State of Public Relations History

Howard Chase: the man who invented issue management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the work of Howard Chase within the history of public relations, his role in the birth and development of issue management, and his relevance for contemporary practice.Design/methodology/approachResearch for this paper draws heavily on the speeches and writings of Chase himself, both before and after the formal establishment of issue management, as well as commentary from key writers.FindingsWhile Chase is widely acknowledged as the founder of issue management in 1976, his writings reveal that he saw this “new science” as only one part of a much broader restructuring of management design in which he positioned public policy and profit as corporate objectives of equal importance. Analysis confirms his work was innovative and of historical significance, but it has been increasingly outdated by evolution of the discipline he created.Originality/valueDespite Chase's pioneering role, modern writing in the field usually cites little more than his definitions and his process model. This paper revisits his original concepts in their contemporary context, providing a fresh framework against which to properly assess his contribution.

Launching PRimary Source: a clearinghouse for public relations history

PurposeThis brief essay aims to introduce public relations historians to PRimary Source, a new search tool designed to help them, their students, and public relations professionals locate archives and manuscript collections relevant to the field.Design/methodology/approachThe article outlines the site which is scheduled to be tested and then launched in October to coincide with the publication of this special issue of Journal of Communication Management. The site address will be: www.prhistorywiki.org Findings – The site will be available for use in historical research, student papers, and decision‐making among scholars and practitioners concerning the disbursement of their papers to a repository as part of their estate planning.Originality/valueAt the time of writing this article, an online tool with this emphasis currently does not exist.

First impressions: US media portrayals of public relations in the 1920s

PurposeThe paper traces negative and limiting media depictions of public relations (PR) to their origins in the 1920s in order to determine whether modern media characterizations of “public relations” are new or a legacy of the past.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis was used in order to look more deeply at media characterizations of public relations. The New York Times and Time magazine were chosen to sample because of their dominance and unique reflection of the era, respectively.FindingsReporting about “public relations” was primarily fair. Early practitioners were often quoted defining the profession, including “great men” of PR history and more common practitioners. These practitioners of PR are as much to blame for confounding the terms “public relations” and “press agent” as are the media of the 1920s.Practical implicationsThis historical study sheds a light on and provides context for both the media and society's understanding of public relations today.Originality/valueWhile much research has looked at media portrayals and public perceptions of the public relations field, few if any have traced attitudes about the profession to the decade when the term “public relations” was first popularized. The paper remedies this deficit.

Writing PR history: issues, methods and politics

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that public relations (PR) history‐writing has profoundly shaped the discipline and that its US bias may have limited theoretical developments. The author aims to explore the challenges in writing PR history and to consider some of the strategic philosophical issues and challenges that face historians.Design/methodology/approachHistorical interpretations are shaped by authors' social constructions and thus the paper is written reflexively. The author discusses the way in which histories are structured and patterned by their authors' assumptions and values about the nature of time; human civilisation, progressivism, situationalism, inevitability, human agency, cultural change, flux and transformation.FindingsExisting (largely US) PR historical writing is analysed in terms of its theoretical impact through the “four models” and it is argued that this typology is not appropriately applied to other cultures with different paths of historical evolution. As a way of demonstrating this point, key aspects of British developments in the twentieth century are drawn out to reveal a dozen “models” of PR practice that could potentially form the basis of theoretical research.Originality/valueOverall, the paper contributes a discussion of historical methodology in relation to PR; shows the connection between history and theory‐building in PR; and demonstrates that history from other cultures can reveal alternative models for theoretical development.

Special issue on History of public relations

Special issue on History of public relations

E. H. Heinrichs: Profile of a Founding Practitioner

A German immigrant who worked in journalism in Pittsburgh at the height of the Gilded Age played an important, yet largely undocumented, role in the early history of public relations. While E. H. Heinrichs has been cited in a few histories of public relations and in a number of college textbooks, this article is the first to profile at length the acknowledged founding practitioner of corporate public relations. Heinrichs, the first person to be hired by a corporation to coordinate its communications, played a role in “the battle of the currents,” the propaganda war waged between Heinrichs's ultimately successful client, George Westinghouse, who proposed alternating current (AC), and Thomas Alva Edison, who supported direct current (DC), to determine the method by which the world would receive electricity.

Alcoholic Dogs and Glory for All: The Anti-Saloon League and Public Relations, 1913

In 1913, the Anti-Saloon League of America declared its intention to pursue national prohibition. While it continued to adhere to its core principles of agitation, it expanded its communication efforts and entered a partnership with the Scientific Temperance Federation, a spin-off of the education arm of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The League's tactics were not necessarily new to the temperance movement -- or even to other reform movements of the time. What did set it apart was its single-minded focus on stopping the liquor traffic. Tracing through archival artifacts the League's communication strategies and tactics during 1913, then, this study contributes to a larger body of work that seeks to expand on the traditional model of public relations history.

From facts to stories or from stories to facts? Analyzing public relations history in public relations textbooks

Leading PR-historiography provides a picture of an evolutionary process of public relations activity in which PR develops from a manipulative to a two-way, dialogue-oriented communication process. We analyzed a number of public relations textbooks to determine how their authors present PR history. Our major findings are: (1) The construct of the progressive development of PR is evenly spread throughout textbooks; (2) The majority of textbooks simply rely on storytelling and not on a theory-driven approach to PR history as we would prefer to see in PR textbooks that are used to teach university students; (3) The PR history presented in the books seems to be influenced by a paradigmatic stance. However, citation context analysis did not enable us to trace back the dissemination of this viewpoint to one paradigmatic author, and so we assume that the so-called obliteration effect prevents this proof.

Relações Públicas e História Empresarial no Brasil

A história das Relações Públicas mostra um campo em que teoria e prática estão em constante evolução. A presente pesquisa tem como objeto de estudo os vínculos entre Relações Públicas, Comunicação Organizacional e História Empresarial, e como hipótese o fato de essas imbricações se configurarem como uma nova abrangência para as Relações Públicas. Realizou-se uma pesquisa quantitativa junto a 119 organizações para testar as hipóteses ligadas às conexões entre esses campos que permitiu estabelecer características teóricas e profissionais inerentes às vinculações detectadas e comprovar a hipótese proposta.

Myth of symmetry: Public relations as cultural styles

The paper suggests that the idea of public relations, once regarded as a-theoretical, is actually more a-historical. The history of public relations has been either ignored or distorted, due in part to the theory of symmetry that confuses the science of evolution with a belief in evolution. Symmetry theory has both caused and resulted in historical distortions like the inflated historical significance of P.T. Barnum, and ethical oversimplifications like the dissociation of public relations from propaganda. As a corrective, this paper offers an alternative, cultural perspective. Expanding upon the critical historiography of J.W. O’Malley, a religious historian, public relations is reframed as cultural styles that reflect distinctive historical sensibilities, as well as manners of perception and expression.

How public relations put the kicks in Route 66 – and still is

This article presents the many ways public relations has been used to assist the goals of one tourist destination during an extended period of time. Using Grunig's and Hunt's four models of public relations, the article identifies the various ways Route 66 has utilized public relations from 1926 to the present. The models not only characterize periods of public relations history, but also the evolving way that organizations communicate with their publics, which leads to a discussion about the communication role the various models should play in today's travel and tourism industry.

Abuse and self‐abuse – PR and its USP, plausible deniability

Who started it we will never know. But from the birth of newspapers, advertisers realised that the third party endorsement of apparently independent editorial reporting delivered their message more cheaply – and arguably more credibly – than paid advertising. Thus in the 17th century the publicist was born to service “the fellow who cannot lye sufficiently himself [who] gets one of these to do’t for him”. Any history of public relations is a running commentary on the techniques used to deliver third party endorsement as the media has evolved: from Ivy Lee’s simple packaging of information approach, through Bernays’ “engineering consent”, to today’s use of bloggers on the web or the more sophisticated “journo lobbying”, it is a record of how practitioners deliver public relations’ unique selling proposition, the plausible deniability which is third party endorsement.

Tapping into War: Leveraging World War I in the Drive for a Dry Nation

This study examines the communication efforts of the Anti-Saloon League of America in the years leading up to National Prohibition. The ASLA has been studied in the context of the Progressive Era, but it has not been examined in the context of its role in public relations history even though its efforts, along with those of the suffrage movement, have been said to have contributed to the postwar boom in publicity/public relations firms. Thus, it will be shown that the ASLA employed a multitiered approach in its own fight for a dry nation via national legislation and congressional hearings, its publishing partner, the Scientific Temperance Federation, and its own American Issue. And that it did so by weaving elements of emotion and cognition through messages arising from war-related issues such as anti-German sentiment, patriotism, and rationing. Such an approach might not be so unusual today, nor were elements of its efforts new to advocacy groups at the time, but the League demonstrated that, for better or worse, a Midwest, church-based social reform movement grounded in the Progressive Era could successfully harness persuasive strategies and tactics to fulfill its agenda for a dry nation.

PR must die: spin, anti‐spin and political public relations in the UK, 1997–2004

This essay critically assesses the “demonology of spin” which has dominated British political journalism, and academic writing on public relations since the rise of New Labour in the 1990s. It reviews the history of British political public relations (PR), and traces the emergence of journalistic hostility to the professional communication practices of New Labour in government. This “demonology” is viewed in the context of the professional rivalry born of mutual interdependence between PR practitioners and political journalists, and assessed as an inevitable consequence of that competition. While arguing for ethical constraints on both PR and journalistic professionals, the article concludes that an adversarial relationship between both groups is an important safeguard against the excesses of either.

The first federal public information service, 1920–1933: at the US Bureau of Efficiency!

The history of public relations in the federal government has been shaped largely by a consistent Congressional hostility to public relations by executive branch agencies. Therefore, information services that existed in Washington in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were largely limited to assisting businesses (including farmers) or to providing limited information to the general public when it related closely to the mission of the agency. Yet, in 1920, the US Bureau of Efficiency established an information service that handled inquiries from the public-at-large and provided responses that were about the broad scope of the federal government, not just the Bureau’s own activities. This was the first general purpose information service for the public to exist in the federal government. It closed when Congress abolished the Bureau of Efficiency in 1933.

The “Public Sentiment Building Society”

The Anti-Saloon League of America was a Midwestern, church-based, social reform group founded in 1895, whose drive for national prohibition played a major role in the ratification and subsequent enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment. The purpose of this article is to expand the current model of public relations history by examining the ideas and methods that the League established in its first fifteen years to generate public sentiment for a dry, saloonless nation. Many of these concepts not only echo what are considered today to be basic principles of public relations, but they were conceived and implemented at the turn of the century by two Ohio men who did not define themselves in terms of public relations and publicity practitioners but in their roles as ministers in fulfilling what they considered to be their religious duty of eliminating liquor in the U.S. The article concludes that while there is still much to learn about public relations from those already labeled as “pioneers, “such as Edward Bernays or John Hill there is even more to mine from those people or organizations who sought to influence public opinion and generate change in the pursuit of a cause or an idea.